‘A few more days’: Secretary of State Pompeo urges patience over missing journalist

Some members of Congress say the U.S. must act against Saudi Arabia if the country's leaders are responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but they differ on exactly what that action would entail. (Oct. 17)
AP

Turkish forensic police officers leave after searching for evidence related to the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul on October 18.(Photo11: AFP)

After a whirlwind emergency trip to Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told President Donald Trump on Thursday that the United States needs to give the Saudis “a few more days” to investigate the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“We made clear to them that we take this matter very seriously,” Pompeo said after meeting with Trump to brief him on his two-day trip, during which he discussed Khashoggi’s disappearance with top government officials. “They assured me that they will conduct a complete and thorough investigation.”

Pompeo did not say whether he believes Khashoggi is dead.

“There are lots of stories out there about what has happened,” Pompeo said. “We just are going to allow the process to move forward, allow the facts to unfold.”

After Pompeo’s brief remarks, Trump tweeted that “the Saudi situation was discussed in great detail” in his meeting with the secretary of state. He wrote that Pompeo is “waiting for the results of the investigations being done by the Saudis and Turkey.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returned last night from Saudi Arabia and Turkey. I met with him this morning wherein the Saudi situation was discussed in great detail, including his meeting with...

It’s been more than two weeks since Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident who obtained U.S. residency last year over fears for his safety, vanished after visiting the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials claimed there are gruesome audio and video recordings of Khashoggi being beheaded and dismembered within minutes of entering the compound. The Saudi government denied killing the journalist.

Pompeo traveled to the Saudi and Turkish capitals to seek answers in the case that has put pressure on the Trump administration. Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office that the United States asked Ankara for copies of audio or video evidence of Khashoggi’s killing, "if it exists."

Pompeo did not say anything about the recordings. He expressed confidence that the Saudi government would conduct a full and "transparent" investigation, and he emphasized America's decades-long alliance with the Saudi government.

"We have a long strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia," Pompeo said. "We need to be mindful of that."

Trump denied that he’s “giving cover” to Saudi Arabia, which cooperates with Washington on oil, anti-terrorism operations and arms sales and acts as a bulwark against the United States’ regional enemy Iran. “I want to find out what happened, where is the fault, and we will probably know that by the end of the week,” Trump said Wednesday.

In the midst of the diplomatic crisis, Saudi Arabia transferred $100 million to the State Department – a long-promised contribution to help stabilize parts of Syria that have been liberated from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

The donation came as Pompeo landed in Riyadh to meet with Saudi officials.

A top State Department official involved in securing the funds said there was no connection.

“We always expected the contribution to be finalized in the fall timeframe,” said Dan McGurk, the president’s special envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. “The specific transfer of funds has been long in process and has nothing to do with other events or the secretary’s visit.”

The Saudis made the $100 million pledge in August, and McGurk was in Riyadh on Oct. 12 working to finalize the transfer.

Trump floated the idea that Khashoggi may have been killed by "rogue killers."

Saudi Arabia called the allegations against it completely "baseless."

The pro-government Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak claimed Wednesday that the 60-year-old journalist who wrote for The Washington Post was accosted by a team of Saudi agents immediately upon entering the consulate, who cut off his fingers and decapitated him. Thursday, Sabah, a Turkish newspaper with close government ties, published surveillance video images showing a man who traveled with Saudi Arabia's crown prince on a visit to the USA in March walking into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul shortly before Khashoggi disappeared.

“If a country engages in activity that is unlawful, it’s unacceptable. No one is going to defend activity of that nature,” Pompeo said in Turkey Wednesday after holding talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A State Department spokeswoman said Pompeo had not reviewed the recordings Turkish security officials claimed to possess.

On his way home to Washington from Turkey on Wednesday, Pompeo acknowledged growing calls for answers: "Sooner’s better than later for everyone."

Turkish investigators searched the Istanbul home of the Saudi consul general and the consulate where Khashoggi was allegedly killed for clues but revealed little about what they discovered. The consul left Turkey this week.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, has jailed hundreds of journalists, activists, officials and even members of his own royal family in a bid to quash dissent.

Thursday, The Washington Post published the last column by Khashoggi, written shortly before he went missing and sent to the newspaper a day after he disappeared by his translator. The column, titled "What the Arab world needs most is free expression," focuses on the need for a free media in the Middle East.

Khashoggi lamented in the piece that many Arabs, in his view, live in a state of misinformation. He wrote about how freedom of the press has been under attack and generally isn't taken seriously by the international community, and as a result, reporters were being silenced. "These actions no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community," Khashoggi wrote. "Instead, these actions may trigger condemnation quickly, followed by silence. As a result, Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media."

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Turkish police stand guard as they cordoned off an underground car park, Oct. 22, 2018, in Istanbul, after they found an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate, three weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate. OZAN KOSE, AFP/Getty Images

Turkish forensics arrive at an underground car park cordoned off by Turkish police, Oct. 22, 2018 in Istanbul, after they found an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate, three weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate. OZAN KOSE, AFP/Getty Images

Security personnel guard Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called the son of Jamal Khashoggi, the kingdom announced early Monday, to express condolences for the death of the journalist killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by officials that allegedly included a member of the royal's entourage. Lefteris Pitarakis, AP

Turkish forensics leave an underground car park cordoned off by Turkish police, Oct. 22, 2018, in Istanbul, after police found an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate, three weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate. OZAN KOSE, AFP/Getty Images

In this image made from a March 2018 video provided by Metafora Production, Jamal Khashoggi reacts as a cat jumped on his lap, while speaking in an interview at an undisclosed location. Eighteen days after Khashoggi disappeared, Saudi Arabia acknowledged early Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, that the 59-year-old writer has died in what it said was a "fistfight" inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Metafora Production via AP

A security guard walks outside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Saudi Arabia claims Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a "fistfight" in consulate, finally admitting that the writer had been slain at its diplomatic post. The overnight announcement in Saudi state media came more than two weeks after Khashoggi, 59, entered the building for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancée, and never came out. Lefteris Pitarakis, AP

A woman stands next to police barriers, in front of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, on Oct. 20, 2018. Saudi Arabia admitted on October 20, 2018 that critic Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul consulate, saying he died during a "brawl", as Turkey vowed to release the full findings of its own investigation. Yasin Akgul, AFP/Getty Images

Sherine Tadros, head of New York (UN) Office of Amnesty International, speaks during a news conference at the United Nations, Oct. 18, 2018. Members from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders make an appeal regarding the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

Turkish forensic officers leave the Saudi consulate after they conducted a new search over the disappearance and alleged slaying of writer Jamal Khashoggi, in Istanbul, early Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. Emrah Gurel, AP

Turkish forensic officers arrive at the Saudi consulate to conduct a new search over the disappearance and alleged slaying of writer Jamal Khashoggi, in Istanbul, early Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. Pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak on Wednesday said it had obtained audio recordings of the alleged killing of Saudi writer Khashoggi inside the consulate on Oct. 2. Emrah Gurel, AP

A Turkish police officer walks inside the property of the residence of the Saudi consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi as Turkish police conduct a search after the disappearance and alleged slaying of writer Jamal Khashoggi, in Istanbul, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Emrah Gurel, AP

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday Oct. 16, 2018. Pompeo also met on Tuesday with Saudi King Salman over the disappearance and alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, who vanished two weeks ago during a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Leah Mills, Pool photo by Leah Millis

A security member is seen inside the entrance of the Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. A Turkish forensics teams finished a search for evidence inside the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul early Tuesday morning, over the disappearance and alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. Petros Giannakouris, AP

Two trucks are loaded with evidence from Turkish forensic police officers as they take part in the investigation of the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Oct. 16, 2018. TOLGA BOZOGLU, EPA-EFE

Tawakkol Karman, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2011, gestures as she talks to members of the media about the disappearance of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, near the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. Lefteris Pitarakis, AP

A security guard walks in the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018. Veteran Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared Oct. 2, 2018, while on a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, sparking an international uproar involving the kingdom, Turkey and the United States that remains unresolved. Lefteris Pitarakis, AP

This image taken from CCTV video obtained by the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet and made available on Oct. 9, 2018, claims to show Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. CCTV via AP

A bird flies next to Saudi Arabia's flag at the roof top of their consulate building in Istanbul, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. Veteran Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared over a week ago while on a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, sparking an international uproar involving the kingdom, Turkey and the United States that remains unresolved. Petros Giannakouris, AP